Every year, Santa along with his reindeer, caboose the Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day parade and thus kick off the Christmas season. The
commentators always hype the scene as the pinnacle moment of the parade, and
Santa is deemed the MVP, the grand finale! Children everywhere glue their eyes to the
television screen and drool, asking themselves what wonderful treasures he
might have in that magic sack. Now, I’m
not going to go on saying that Santa is Satan, although their names do have the
same letters, they both wear red, and they both distract millions of people
from Jesus Christ on His birthday... But
I do want to encourage you to teach your
children the truth about Christmas.
“Say what?!!” Jeremiah, I’m only a teen, man. I’m not even
out of high school yet! If you’re a “Teenager” then you’re expected to be, well,
“a Teenager.” But let’s say that you as a young man or woman are preparing for
the days to come when you will be the Father or Mother in your own family… What
will you tell your children? Have you ever thought about it? I know that I will
tell my children that Santa is not real, and that Jesus Christ is why we
celebrate Christmas. Let me offer a couple of reasons why.
How did you feel when you found out that Santa wasn’t real?
Were you disappointed? Did you feel like there were other things your parents
weren’t telling you? I’d like to offer a suggestion. Right now, you are
preparing yourself for adult life. Someday soon, you’ll be married, and before
you know it, you’ll probably have children of your own, and you’ll need to have
already made choices regarding a few things. What will you teach your children
about Santa, better yet, what will you teach them about God?
Let me paint a picture for you… What if Santa wasn’t at the
end of that parade? What if instead of jolly old St. Nick, the commentators
exclaimed that Jesus was coming!? Yes the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father,
the Creator of Heaven and earth was here! And there at the end of the parade
was a little baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger. Would
all the excitement be lost? Would it be a letdown? Would the shopping malls be
vacant on black Friday? Would Christmas lose its importance?
Growing up, we had an advent calendar made from scratch by
my mother. And on the 25th, there was little baby Jesus, not Santa.
I can’t begin to tell you just how thankful I am for that. A parent’s integrity
is huge. Yet it’s compromised when a child finds out he has been lied to regarding
Santa. Their next question might be “is the Bible and Jesus a lie too?” I think
it’s much more important that children trust their parents, than that they put
their “faith” in someone who is only accessible once a year. God is with us all
year long!
Christmas is about Jesus Christ. That’s why it’s called
Christmas, and not Santamas. We celebrate Jesus’ birth (not because He was
actually born on the 25th of the 12th month) but because
that’s when we celebrate the fact that God became a man and lived a perfect
life, and died for our sins, so that we might have eternal life if we believe
it. Yes, Salvation is wrapped up as the best Christmas present ever, and I don’t
care how cliché that sounds. It’s the truth.
Comment below and tell us what you think about Christmas and
Santa.
